Chapter 2

Chloe said, "Clara, did I make you mad? But I'm just telling the truth. You're being way too petty."

Me, petty?

I pushed myself up from the table, the chair screeching across the ground.

I walked past Dylan and towered over Chloe, then slapped her hard across her fake innocent face.

I snapped, "If you know exactly what would piss me off, then you must've said it on purpose. When you say something wrong, you should apologize, not play dumb."

The room went dead silent.

Chloe froze for a couple of seconds, then covered her face and started sobbing quietly. "Clara, how dare you hit me?"

If I ignored her vicious eyes, she really did look like she was putting on that white lotus act.

But even that was enough to make Dylan's heart break for her.

He shot up from his chair, shoving me aside while he moved to shield Chloe behind him.

Good thing I was already on guard. After seeing what kind of guy Dylan really was, there was no way I'd ever let my guard down around him.

I took a step back and steadied myself, watching Dylan act like no one else mattered as he wrapped Chloe protectively in his arms.

Dylan snapped, "Clara, Chloe was just joking. Did you make a fuss like this?

"How am I supposed to be respected in front of my buddies after this?"

I let out a cold laugh, as if I was seeing Dylan for the first time all over again.

I shot back, "So, letting me get humiliated is what you call saving face?

"Or is it more dignified to push aside me, seven months pregnant, by the way, just to protect someone who has nothing to do with you?

"Dylan, you're really giving me a whole new perspective on you."

Dylan was stunned for a second, then hurriedly let go of Chloe.

He said, "I only pushed you because things got heated. It's not like I even touched you, so why are you freaking out over nothing?

"What's more, I always stand up for what's right, not just for family. It's wrong for you to hit her for no reason."

What a shameless man!

I took two steps forward, landing another slap right across Dylan's face.

I sneered and looked around. Everyone here was either Dylan's friend or Chloe's.

I never really fit in when they were having a good time, just like a walking ATM.

I spat, "Dylan, even a dog I feed knows how to please me. But you all let me pay for everything without a second thought, and none of you show me a shred of respect, not even a dog."

My words made everyone's face darken instantly.

"Dylan, if you hadn't insisted on asking us here for Chloe's birthday, we wouldn't have bothered coming just to take this abuse and get called dogs!" one of them snapped.

One after another, they got up and left.

Dylan felt utterly humiliated, like his face had been rubbed right into the dirt.

In front of his buddies, he always liked to show off, acting like he had me completely under his thumb and mooching off my money, but he never wanted anyone to call him out for it.

Now that I'd said it out loud, it was like I'd shattered the dignity he'd worked so hard to keep up.

Seeing him fuming and practically jumping with rage, I finally felt a wave of satisfaction wash over me. I turned to leave.

I took a taxi home.

On the way back, my phone buzzed with a text alert that ten thousand dollars had just been taken out of my account.

It occurred to me that since I married Dylan, he had been using the extra bank card I set up.

After a month of marriage, Dylan said he wanted to start a business, but he didn't have enough money.

To save his pride, I set up a family card for him and even got him a secondary bank card.

Less than a year into our marriage, every month he was already blowing through one hundred dollars.

Back then, I didn't care about the money, and I was worried that bringing it up would hurt his pride.

But now, I just pulled up the bill for every amount of money he had spent over the past few months.

Looking at the bills, I finally knew the truth.

Turns out, half of what Dylan spent every month went straight to luxury goods for women.

But I had never received any of these items.

But Chloe was always flaunting the latest limited-edition clothes, bags, and accessories every month.

After saving all the spending records, I cut off both the secondary card and the family card.

Now, let us see, without me as their cash cow, if Dylan and Chloe could keep pretending they were madly in love.

When I got home, I thought of the post I had just seen in the restaurant and pulled it up again.

There was a new comment under the hot post.

[Tonight, my wife suddenly got mad. After thinking it over, I realized it was probably because my childhood sweetheart said she looked like a pig now that she's pregnant. Guess her figure is a real trigger for her. I'll have to sweet-talk her later.]

Someone asked him how he manages to keep women wrapped around his finger.

He replied, all smug.

Dylan: [Women are like kites. You gotta pull the string tight, then let it loose, if you want to keep them flying high. To put it bluntly, slap her, then hand her a candy. That's the trick, women always fall for it.]

Reading these smug comments from him, who thought he had women all figured out, just made my skin crawl.

Dylan didn't come home all night, and unlike before, I didn't send a message to ask where he went.